Weird Theology in Wasilla: A Look Inside Sarah Palin's Pentecostal Church

via AlterNet:



Weird Theology in Wasilla: A Look Inside Sarah Palin's Pentecostal Church

By Bruce Wilson, Talk To Action. Posted September 8, 2008.

Exposing the unusual, highly politicized religious beliefs held at the Wasilla Assembly of God.




On June 8, 2008 Palin was publicly blessed, with the "laying on of hands" before six thousand Wasilla area church members, by Head Wasilla Assembly of God Pastor Ed Kalnins and on the same day both Kalnins and Palin described, at a "Masters Commission" ceremony at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, how she had been blessed prior to winning the Alaska governorship by an African cleric known for driving the "spirit of witchcraft" out of a town in Kenya, after which town supposedly crime rates dropped "almost to zero."

Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world.

Along with her entire family, Sarah Palin was re-baptized at twelve at the Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska and she attended the church from the time she was ten until 2002: over two and 1/2 decades. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate.

Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday."

At the latter event, Palin and Alaska LT Governor Scott Parnell were publicly blessed, onstage before an estimated crowd of 6,000, through the "laying on of hands" by Wasilla Assembly of God's Head Pastor Ed Kalnins whose sermons espouse such theological concepts as the possession of geographic territories by demonic spirits and the inter-generational transmission of family "curses". Palin has also been blessed, or "anointed", by an African cleric, prominent in the Third Wave movement, who has repeatedly visited the Wasilla Assembly of God and claims to have effected positive, dramatic social change in a Kenyan town by driving out a "spirit of witchcraft." ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/election08/97939/weird_theology_in_wasilla%3A_a_look_inside_sarah_palin%27s_pentecostal_church/

I heard that she stopped attending this church five or six years ago, but joined another.

She still has warm and loving thoughts about this church, though.

this is the scariest thing about Palin...

there is recent video of her commending the Master's Commission graduates...
which indicates that she feels she is on a mission from God...

this kind of ideology makes the Rev. Wright stuff look very tame...
I do wish is was getting the same level of press.

which can carry a lot of anger, but its definitely anchored in the real world. People have both feet on the ground and their experiences and hopes and dreams are in the reality of this world.

---Not so with the Assembly of God types.

"This queen is considered by them to be one of the most powerful demons over the earth and is the Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon in Revelation. (The "Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon" theme also figures prominently in the sermons of Texas megachurch pastor and Christians United For Israel founder John Hagee, former endorser of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.)"


I have never figured out how McCain would have picked this character as his running mate, but had a nagging feeling that someone behind him had said, "You WILL select Palin!"

Mr. McGoo can rant and rave all he wants about how strong-willed he is, but history shows that isn't necessarily true. He protesteth too much! It is important to him that he portrays himself as a warrior...a man of strength and honor...a man of determination...Super Man. He couldn't make up his mind which candidate he wanted to run with him, so why, all of a sudden, did he come up with Palin AND in such an enthusiastic way? It was as though he'd won the lotto!

In reading that article, Hagee jumped out at me.

Another thing that jumped out at me was "demons" and "demonic spirits" -- witchcraft. Ever look at Palin's jewelry? Curious, for sure.

Totally open 1/2 wall cubbie environment with everyone's screens facing out. It sucks!

which several were perusing and it was agreed they might be wiccan. Is there some type of star that symbolizes something in witchcraft? I'm sure there is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram

snip

Pentagrams were used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia. The pentagram has magical associations, and many people who practice Neopagan faiths wear jewelry incorporating the symbol. Christians once more commonly used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Jesus,<1><2> and it also has associations within Freemasonry.

The pentagram has long been associated with the planet Venus, and the worship of the goddess Venus, or her equivalent. It is also associated with the Roman word lucifer, which was a term used for Venus as the Morning Star, associated with the bringer of light and knowledge. It is most likely to have originated from the observations of prehistoric astronomers.<3> When viewed from Earth, successive inferior conjunctions of Venus plot a nearly perfect pentagram shape around the zodiac every eight years.<4>

snip

"A reversed pentagram, with two points projecting upwards, is a symbol of evil and attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and demonstrates the triumph of matter over spirit. It is the goat of lust attacking the heavens with its horns, a sign execrated by initiates."<8>
"Let us keep the figure of the Five-pointed Star always upright, with the topmost triangle pointing to heaven, for it is the seat of wisdom, and if the figure is reversed, perversion and evil will be the result."<9>

I didn't even know what to call it.

to bring about the second coming of Christ...
which will only happen if world is converted to Christianity...
is lunatic, fringe, extremist!

I was in the hospital a couple weeks ago
there was an elderly fundie woman in the bed next to me...
she had lots of visitors..
listening to them talk and pray was scary...

I worked in correction for years. We were told to look in the fundamental church for pedophiles and rapist and other abusers. This seemed to hold true. Although not all are rapist or pedophiles or abusers (by any means) comes from these churches, there is a high correlation.

Their religious teachings seem prone to attract or produce abusers of various sorts.

When watching these people it seems lying, attacking, cheating , even by their ministers, is acceptable if it promotes their cause.
All of this seems apparent in palin. I guess mccain does not need religion to lie, he has just had a lot of practices. Or suffers from dementia. What president and VP they would make.

I just hope that Americans are not so stupid as to put them in office.

Speaking in tongues, obsession with the "end of days", talks of tunring Alaska into the "last refuge" after the "end of days", etc, etc...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/09/08/yellin.palin.faith.cnn

Scary stuff.

It is important that those at DU who are ignorant about this strain of far right fundamentalists GET IT. These people are training their young to believe they are involved in a spiritual war with THE WORLD, with THE WORLD being everyone outside their narrow beliefs.

It is every bit as dangerous to Christianity as the Wahabbists are to Islam.

Identifying and attacking religious extremists is a critical part of being progressive. One cannot cloak their malicious doctrines in religion and expect to hide behind the shield of their religious rights.

which, brings us full-circle to the "miracle birth"..It's entirely possible that Dr. Gal-Pal made a housecall, as a Christian Favor, to see to it that Bristol's baby was born safely at home...or maybe she came after the fact when the baby came early..

Childbirth would not be a big deal to someone who dope snot believe in medicine..especially a moose-killing outdoorswoman like Mrs Moose.

In Kenya, Bishop Thomas Muthee, who Sarah Palin has lavished with praise, runs a ministry called the Word of Faith Church...

http://www.wofchurchke.org

According to the WoF website, the church maintains a regional office in the town of Kisii...

http://www.wofchurchke.org/regions.php

A few months ago, Kisii was the site of a violent "witch hunt" which resulted in 11 deaths...



I don't know if there is any connection between Bishop Muthee and religious violence in Kenya but the fact that he seems to have made a career of inciting superstitious fears makes me wonder...

http://www.choicesforliving.com/spirit/part4/kenya.htm

http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0923/p15s1.html